Method and apparatus to produce non-woven fabric

ABSTRACT

A machine and method to provide a non-woven fabric which employs a multiplurality of yarn lay down arms which are driven by a unique gearing arrangement to provide a substantially uniform yarn velocity.

United States Patent [191 Eschenbach 1 Nov. 25, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS TO PRODUCE NON-WOVEN FABRIC [75] Inventor: Paul W. Eschenbach, Inman, SC.

[73] Assignee: Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg, SC.

[22] Filed: Sept. 30, 1974 [21] App]. No.: 510,437

[52] US. Cl 28/1 CL; 28/72 NW; 242/47.12;

156/440 [51] Int. C1. D02G 3/00 [58] Field of Search 28/1 CL, 72 R, 72 NW;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,593,394 7/1971 Bolles 28/] CL 3,649,411 3/1972 Bolles 28/1 CL Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney, Agent, or FirmH. William Petry; Earle R. Marden [57] ABSTRACT A machine and method to provide a non-woven fabric which employs a multiplurality of yarn lay down arms which are driven by a unique gearing arrangement to provide a substantially uniform yarn velocity.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 3 3,921,265

US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,921,265

Sheet 3 of 3 US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS TO PRODUCE 1 v INON- OVENFABR Q t wi t i t lfl' ut r r t t zlt is an object of this: invention; to provide a nonwoven fabric producingmachinein which the weft yarn flows through the machine at a substantially uniform Velocity. I i f" 1: 1 r a 4 Otherlobjectsand advantages of the invention will become clearly apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference tothe aecompanyingclrawingsfin which? v H a v FIG. 1 is an overall scheinatic view of the new iniproved fmachine a l ablovv-up top view of the thread i an W l$h i Qmli g ect n fi th ma ne with the thread; guide arms t in the horizontal position and 1 71" 1 FIG. 3 is a viewttakenton line;3t3 of FIG. 2 showing thethreadguidearmsidnive members. t l r 1 Referringnowmorerparticularlyto the drawings and 7 in particular to FIG 1*, an apparatus is'shown for continuously forming non-woven net fabrics which gener-- ally includes athreadivvinding section 10, aweftslieet forming section 12, a i Wat-p and weft sheet combining section 14 aseetionlliforsecuring the sheets in con tiguous coplanar relation t'offorrrfa nonwoven net fabricandacreelseeti ISJ J j a v i As shtsw in t re and 2,1 thread windingseetion lu t lfthr g w n mg mea l sq nn si i a p r 5 associated with a hollow central shaft f 22 for rotation therewithn Shaft 22 a is suitably supported for rotation about its central axis and is rotably driven by mot or 24 through endless belt :25ian'd: gear box 26. During; rotation; of thread guide arms :20sand '21 continuous threads? or weft yarns 28 and"30 are continuously passed from thecrel section '18 and yarn package 32, respectively; through the hollc'jw shaft "22 with yam 2s passingo it" therebetween.w'lThread. supporttmernbers 361are of preferably' substantiallylridentical ,construetion and each comprises an elongatedthelical member or spring 38 of .high strength,rigid material such as spring steel. 'lf desired, one of the thread support members- 36 may use a double amamamn spring The 'elongated helical member 38 is removably mounted in and rotably with a frusto-conical -bollar member 40whi chfacilitates e drive shaft 122) Each thread To facilitate positional support of thehelical members 38, suitably supported blocks or stop membersflfi are positioned beneath each helicalrnemben and abuttingly engage thesame to prevent rotation of the cross arm 44 and helical member 38 about the shaft-22 during its rotation and thereby positionally stabilize the same.

h their respective which is' spsported b a suitable;

s As best seen in FIG. 1 the warp and weft sheet com bining section includes a pair of nip rolls 48 and 50 which are rotably supported by suitable means, not shown, between the free or open ends of the helical members 38. As seen in FIG. 1,. as the helical members 38 rotate to advance the thread or yarn reaches ;in spaced parallel relationttherealong to form the weft sheet, the thread reaches leaving the open ends of the members 38 pass between and are engaged by nip rolls 48 and 50. One or more sheets 52 and 54 of warp threads or yarns from the warp beams (not shown are supplied continuously to the nip portion of the} rolls 48 and 50 from the beams and, during theirtmovernent therethrough, the warp and weft sheets are brought into contiguous coplanar relation As shown in FIG. 1 the loop ends of the weft thread or yarn reaches are relleased from the rotating helical members 38 and the combined sheets pass over a guide roller 60 to the sheet securing section 16. t a a a l t The securingsection 16 includes an adhesive bath 62 through which the composite sheet of warp and weft yarns are passed by rotable squeeze rolls 64 and 66 to apply a suitable adhesive thereto. The sheet thereafter passes about the surface of a plurality of heated drying rolls 68 where the warp and weft yarns are secured together and the thus formed non-woven net fabrie 170 is collected on a take-up roll (not shown). Although not shown, one or more of the rolls in the securing section 16 may be suitably driven to move thewarp and weft sheets through the apparatus. t a a l a 1 Looking again atFlG. l the stub shafts 42 andttheir respective helical members 38 have aligned t central passageways through which selvage threads or yarns 73 continuously pass 5durin g formation of the weft sheet to be positioned within the loop ends of the weft thread or yarnreaches as the reachesleave the openends of thehelical members 38. Thegselvage threads not only strengthen the composite non-woven net fabric product but provide additional support ,to the weft sheet during its passage through the securing section 16 9f the apparatus. 1 1 "t l As discussed briefly before, it is desiredt o run more than one weft strand so as to provide increased productionand efficiencyin the manufacture of non-woven fabric ln the preferred form of the invention the appa ratusris shown :running two strands of weft thread or yarn but it is understood that it ;is contemplated that any number of strands canbe run within thescope of t the invention. To this end the creeltsection 18 is; em-

ployed, Creel section 18 is supported on a base plate 88 port the rod 99 therebetween attached to the L-shapecl arm 100. Rotably supported at the end of arm 100 is a shaft 102 to which isfixed a collar member l0 4twhich rotates therewithand has a plurality of radially extending arms 106 tosupport the weft. yarn packages 32 The packages 32 are connected to one another through the use of a transfer tail so that when one runs out thenextt;

package will automatically beunwound. This is accom;

plished by tying the tail of onepackage32 totthe lead end of the next adjacent package 32. 1 a l t In operation continuous weft threads 28 and 30 are supplied from their respective packagesl08 and 32,

respectively, through the hollow shaft 22 to hollow guide arms 21 and through tube guides 34 to wind the threads or yarns about the ends of the spaced-apart guide members 36. The threads or yarns 28 and 30 are guided by the frusto-conical member into the spaces between the first and second helices of the springs 38. As the outlet ends 34 of the guide arms 20 and 21 pass about the springs 38, the threads or yarns 28 and 30 are laid in a plurality of reaches extending therebetween. The looped ends of the yarn engage the springs 38 and the springs are continuously rotated to advance the reaches in spaced. generally parallel relation along the springs to form the weft yarn sheet. As the reaches of the yarn 28 and 30 approach the open ends of the springs. they engage the selvage yarns passing through the center of springs 38 and combine with the warp threads 52 and 54 as they pass through nip rolls 48 and 50. As previously pointed out, the combined weft and warp thread sheets are then impregnated with a suitable adhesive. dried and cured and thereafter collected.

The thread or yarn 30 is delivered from the package 32 to the hollow shaft 22 through the hollow shaft 82 and the rotating hollow arm 84. The thread or yarn 28 is delivered to the hollow shaft 22 from the package 108 through the hollow nose portion 110, hollow shaft 82 and the radial hollow arm 86. To control the balloon configuration of the yarns 28 and 30 as they rotate rings 112 and 114 are mounted on the housing of the transmission by suitable supports 116 and 118.

It has been found that in a non-woven fabric producing machine utilizing a substantially circular weft yarn path the yarn flow through the machine tends to be jerky with high acceleration as the thread guide arms 20 and 22 pass the thread support members 36. To overcome this jerky yarn flow it has been found that if the yarn exit follows a substantially elliptical path that the non-uniform motion of the yarn exit tends to providea yarn flow which approaches a constant. To this end the construction shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is used to provide the desired motion of the yarn exit.

To provide the above yarn flow a sun gear 120 is fixed to the machine frame while shaft 22 drives the planet gears 122 and 124 which are rotably supported by the propeller arm 126 which is fixed to the shaft 22 and rotates at the same speed. Attached to the propellcr arm 126, by suitable brackets 128 and others not shown. are thread guide arms 20 and 21. To provide an elliptical yarn path. the yarn exit 34 is guided radially and angularly by the slider crank 130 slidably and pivotally mounted in the baring collar 132 and guided by the crank arm 134 pivotally connected thereto at 136. The crank arm 134 is fixed to the rotating shaft 138 rotally connected to the propeller arm 126 and being driven by the planet gear fixed thereto. In the preferred form of the invention the gear ratio of the sun gear to each of the planet gears is 2:1.

As'discussed previously the crank arm 134 and the slider crank 130 inconjunction with the gear 124 cause the yarn guide exit 34, and consequently the yarns 28 and 30 to follow an elliptical path around the shaft 22. It should be noted, as indicated by the arrows on gears 122 and 124, that in the direction of rotation, the yarn exit 34 lags the thread guide arms 20 and 21 and that the ellipse 140 generated by the path of the yarn exit 34 has a major axis that does not fall on a horizontal line passing through the thread support members 36. In

FIG. 3 it can be seen that the outermost point of the major axis of the ellipse 140 is reached 'by the yarn exit 34 after contact of the yarn from the exit 34 with the respective thread support member] It should be noted that the ellipse 140 can be generated since the thread guide arms 20and 21 and the propellerarm 126 rotates at a constant angular velocity while the yarn exits 34 rotate at varying angular velocity causing nonuniform motion of the yarns in a radial and angular direction with respect to the propeller arm 126.

Looking at FIGS. 1-3 it can be seen that the yarn tube guide exits 34 for yarns 28 and 30 have reached the extreme outward position after contact with the thread support members 36 so that the yarn guide exits 34 still have horizontal motion when the yarns contact the thread support members 36' so that the velocity of the yarn does not drop to zero as when the extreme outward position of the yarns coincides with the contact of the yarn with the thread guide members. This reduces the tendency of the yarn to be jerked after contact with the thread guide members to overcome inertia due to loss of momentum on contact with the thread support member.

Also. the elliptical generated path in combination with the spaced relationship of the thread guide arms relative to the yarn guide exit 34 provides an accumulator effect since the maximum pull is just prior to the contact of the yarn with the thread support. The distance between the yarn exit 34 and the thread guide arm 70 is being slowly reduced as the generated elliptical path is approaching its minor axis to supply extra yarn between yarn exit 34 and spring supports 38.

It can be readily be seen-that a novel machine has been provided which will more efficiently produce non-woven fabric. 1

Although the preferred embodiment 'of theinvention has been described, it is contemplated that changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention and therefore, it is desired that the invention be limited only by the scope of the claims.

That which is claimed is: I j

1. Method of producing a non-woven fabric on a machine having spaced apart yarn guides and a yarn guide arm to wrap yarn around the spaced apart yarn guides comprising the steps of: providing a supply of weft yarn, supplying weft yarn to the yarn guide'arm and rotating the yarn guide arm in a substantially elliptical path to wind the weft yarn at a substantially uniform velocity around the spaced apart yarn guides.

2. Apparatus to produce a non-woven fabric comprising: yarn support means including a pass of yarn supports spaced from one another, means for supporting a package of yarn, rotable yarn guide means operably associated with said pairof yarn supports to supply yarn from the yarn package support and to wind the yarn in an elliptical path about said pair of yarn supports at a substantially uniform velocity to form reaches therebtween and means to rotate said rotable yarn guide means. I I

3. The apparatus of claim 2 whereinsaid means to rotate said yarn guide means includes a sun gear and at least one planet gear meshed therewith.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said rotable yarn guide means includes a slider crank mechanism connected to said planet gear. 7 i

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said rotable yarn guide means further'includes a yarn guide tube spaced from said slider crank mechanism and guiding yarn from the yarn package thereto. 

1. Method of producing a non-woven fabric on a machine having spaced apart yarn guides and a yarn guide arm to wrap yarn around the spaced apart yarn guides comprising the steps of: providing a supply of weft yarn, supplying weft yarn to the yarn guide arm and rotating the yarn guide arm in a substantially elliptical path to wind the weft yarn at a substantially uniform velocity around the spaced apart yarn guides.
 2. Apparatus to produce a non-woven fabric comprising: yarn support means including a pass of yarn supports spaced from one another, means for supporting a package of yarn, rotable yarn guide means operably associated with said pair of yarn supports to supply yarn from the yarn package support and to wind the yarn in an elliptical path about said pair of yarn supports at a substantially uniform velocity to form reaches therebtween and means to rotate said rotable yarn guide means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means to rotate said yarn guide means includes a sun gear and at least one planet gear meshed therewith.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said rotable yarn guide means includes a slider crank mechanism connected to said planet gear.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said rotable yarn guide means further includes a yarn guide tube spaced from said slider crank mechanism and guiding yarn from the yarn package thereto. 